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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


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Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


Th«c 
toth( 


The  Institute  has  attempted  tc  obtain  the  best 
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D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  coulaur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


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n 

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D 


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Couverture  endommag^e 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  at/ou  pellicul^e 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  tit 


itre  de  couverture  manque 


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Thai 

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Of  th 
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Origi 

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antir 
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right 
raqu 
matr 


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slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
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Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
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Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu^  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


12X 


16X 


20X 


26X 


30X 


24X 


28X 


i: 


32X 


:ails 
du 

idifier 
une 
nage 


TIm  copy  filmad  h«r«  has  b««n  r«produc«d  thanks 
to  tha  flanarosity  of: 

Univeriity  of  British  Columbia  Library 


Tha  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  bast  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  iagibiiity 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  Itaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  spacif ications. 


Original  copias  in  printad  papar  covars  ara  filmad 
baginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  baginning  on  tha 
first  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illuatratad  imprassion. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  — ^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  Y  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  applias. 


L'axamplaira  film*  f ut  raproduit  grica  i  la 
g4n4rosit*  da: 

Univartity  of  British  Columbia  Library 


Laa  imagas  suivantas  ont  4t4  raproduitas  avac  la 
plua  grand  soin,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattati  da  l'axamplaira  film*,  at  an 
conformity  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 

Las  axamplairas  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  ast  imprimAa  sont  fiimis  an  comman9ant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  soit  par  la 
darnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'Imprassion  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  sacond 
plat,  salon  la  cas.  Tous  las  autras  axamplairas 
originaux  sont  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
pramlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  at  9n  tarminant  par 
la  darniira  paga  qui  comporta  una  talla 
amprainta. 

Un  das  symbolas  suivants  cpparaTtra  sur  la 
darnlAra  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  salon  la 
cas:  la  rymboia  — ►  signifia  "A  SUIVRE",  la 
symbols  y  signifia  "FIN". 


Maps,  platas,  charts,  ate,  may  ba  filmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratioa.  Thosa  too  larga  to  ba 
antiraly  includad  in  ona  axposura  ara  filmad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  cornar,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framas  as 
raquirad.  Ths  following  diagrams  illustrata  tha 
mathod: 


Las  cartas,  planehas,  tablaaux,  ate,  pauvant  Atra 
filmte  A  das  taux  da  reduction  diffirants. 
Lorsqua  la  documant  ast  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  an  un  saul  ciichA,  11  ast  film*  A  partir 
da  I'angia  supiriaur  gaucha,  da  gaucha  il  droita, 
at  da  haut  an  bas,  an  pranant  la  nombra 
d'imagas  nicassaira.  Las  diagrammas  suivants 
illustrant  la  mithoda. 


rata 
o 


lelure, 

I  a 


3 


32X 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

SPEECH  OF  MR.  WINTHROP,  OF  MSSICHUSETTS, 


ON 


THE  OREGON  QUESTION. 


DELIVERED  IN  THE  HOUSE  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  MARCH  18,  1844. 


The  House  having  rssolved  itself  into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union, 
and  having  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
declaring  it  to  be  inexpedient  to  act  at  this  time  on  a  resolution  inirodu"-ed  by  Mr.  On-i  n,  of  In- 
diana, to  request  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  give  due  notice  of  twelve  nionlhs  to  the 
British  government  for  terminating  the  convention  for  the  joint  occupation  of  the  Oregon  Terri- 
tory; and  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs  (Mr.  C.  J.  Inqf.ksoli.,  of  Penn- 
sylvania) having  spoken  in  opposition  to  the  report — 

Mf.  WiNTHROP  addressed  the  committee  nearly  as  follows  : 

I  have  no  purpose,  Mr.  Chairman,  of  attempting  a  detailed  reply  to 
the  honorable  gentleman  who  has  just  taken  his  seat.  I  was  greatly 
in  hopes  that  another  member  of  tliis  house,  and  I  will  add,  another 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  who  has  so  often  instructed 
and  delighted  us  on  these  questions  of  foreign  controversy,  (Mr.  Adams) 
would  have  taken  the  floor  for  this  purpose.  1  would  gladly  yield  it 
to  him,  or,  indeed,  to  any  one  else  who  is  disposed  for  it,  feeling,  as  I 
deeply  do,  the  want  of  greater  preparation  and  longer  reflection  for 
doing  justice  to  the  occasion.  I  am  unwilling,  however,  that  the 
speech  which  has  just  been  delivered  should  pass  off  without  sorre 
notice.  I  fear,  too,  that  if  I  yield  to  the  kind  suggestion  of  a  friend 
near  me,  and  ask  a  postponement  of  the  debate,  1  may  lose  an  oppor- 
tunity altogether.  Recent  proceedings  in  this  house  afford  me  very 
little  encouragement  to  try  such  an  experiment.  On  more  than  one 
occasion,  questions  of  the  higiiest  interest  and  importance  seem  to  have 
been  brought  up  unexpectedly,  as  this  has  been,  for  the  purpose  of 
allowing  some  member  of  the  majority  of  the  house  to  deliver  an  elab- 
orate exposition  of  his  views,  and  then  to  have  been  shufliled  off  again 
by  the  previous  question,  or  by  a  motion  to  lay  on  the  table,  before  any 
member  of  the  minority  could  open  his  lips  in  reply.  I  proceed,  ihcre- 
for«i,  to  make  the  best  of  the  opportunity  which  is  now  secured  to  me. 
d,  in  the  first  place,  let  me  say  a  word  in  regard  to  the  sectional 
t  tcter  which  has  been  given  to  this  subject.  It  has  been  often  said 
that  the  question  about  Oregon  is  a  Western  question,  and  a  disposition  has 
been  manifested  tochargehostilitytoWesterninterestsand  Western  rights 
upon  all  who  are  not  ready  to  draw  the  sword,  without  further  delay,  in  de- 
fence of  this  Territory.  I  deny  this  position  altogether.  It  is  a  National 
question.  Itisaquestionforthe  whole  country.  The  North  have  as  much 
interest  in  it  as  the  West,  and  as  much  right  to  be  heard  upon  it;  indeed, 
there  are  some  views  in  which  it  is  more  a  Northern  than  a  Western 
question.     I  cannot  forget  that  the  American  claim  to  Oregon,  so  far  is 

J.  &  0.  S.  QisEOK,  piinten. 


2 

it  resis  upon  discovery,  dates  back  to  Mnssachusetts  advcntiiri  and 
Boston  enteiprise.  It  was  a  Boston  ship  which  gave  its  name  to  the 
Columbia  river.  It  was  Captain  Robert  Gray,  of  Boston,  who  first  dis- 
covered that  river.  It  was  the  Hancock  and  the  Adams  of  Massachu- 
eetts — the  proscribed  patriots  of  the  Revolution — whose  names  were 
inscribed  on  those  remote  Capes.  And  if  we  turn  from  the  early  his- 
tory of  Oregon  to  its  present  importance,  and  tc  the  immediate  interests 
which  are  involved  in  its  possession,  the  North  will  be  found  no  less 
prominently  concerned  in  the  question.  The  great  present  value  of 
this  Territory  has^relation  to  the  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  Pa- 
cific ocean.  The  Whale  fishery  of  this  country  requires  safe  stations 
and  harbors  on  the  northwest  coast.  And  by  what  part  of  the  nation 
is  ihis  fishery  carried  on  1  Why,  sir,  the  State  of  Massachusetts  owns 
nine-tenths  of  all  the  whale  ships  of  the  United  States.  The  single 
town  of  New  Bedford,  (the  residence  of  my  honorable  friend  Mr. 
GaiNNELL),.aends  out  92,000,  out  of  a  little  more  than  130,000,  tons  of 
the  American  shipping  employed  in  tliis  business;  and  three  other 
towns  in  the  same  district  employ  31,170  tons  of  the  remainder.  So 
far,  then,  as  the  whaling  inleiest  is  to  be  regarded,  the  Oregon  ques- 
tion is  emphalically  a  Massachusetts  question.  I  feel  bound  to  add, 
however,  that  the  whole  coast  of  Oregon  can  hardly  furnish  one  really 
good  harbor.  South  of  the  forty-ninth  degree  of  latitude,  (a  boundary 
which  we  have  once  offered  to  compromise  upon),  there  is  not  one 
.  which  a  ship  can  get  safely  into,  or  out  of,  during  thn^e  quarters  of  the 
year.  The  hdrbor  of  San  Fiarcisco,  in  northern  California,  would  be 
worth  the  whole  Territory  of  Oregon  to  the  whaling  fleet  of  the  nation. 
A  mere  Western  interest!  Sir,  I  doubt  whether  the  West  has  a  par- 
ticle of  real  interest  in  the  possession  of  Oregon.  It  may  have  an  in- 
terest, a  momentary,  seeming,  delusive  interest  in  a  war  for  Oregon. 
Doubtless,  the  western  States  might  reap  a  rich  harvest  of  spoils  in  the 
torosecution  of  such  a  war.  Doubtless,  there  would  be  A\t  contracts  of 
all  sorts  j^rowing  out  of  such  a  contest,  which  would  enure  to  their 
peculiar  advantage.  Doubtless,  the  characteristic  spirit  of  the  western 
people — that  spirit  of  restless  adventure,  and  roving  enterprise,  and 
daring  conflict,  which  the  honorable  gentleman  has  just  eulogized — 
would  find  ample  room  and  verge  enough  for  its  indulgence  even  to 
satiety,  in  such  a  campaign.  Whether  that  spirit,  indomitable  as  it  is 
in  any  ordinary  encounter,  would  not  be  found  stumbling  upon  the 
dark  mountains,  or  fainting  in  the  dreary  vallies,  or  quenched  beneath 
the  perpetual  snows  which  Nature  has  opposed  to  the  passage  to  this 
disputed  territory,  remains  to  be  seen.  A  march  to  Oregon,  I  am  in- 
clined to  believe,  would  take  the  courage  out  of  not  a  few  who  now 
believe  themselves  incapable  of  fatigue  or  fear.  But  suppose  the  war 
were  over,  successfully  over,  and  Oregon  ours,  what  interest,  let  me 
ask.  %vhat  real,  substantial,  permanent  interest  would  the  West  have  in 
its  possession  "?  Are  our  western  brethren  straightened  for  elbow  room, 
or  likely  to  be  for  a  thousand  years  1  Have  they  not  too  much  land 
for  their  own  advantage  already?  I  verily  believe  that  if  land  were 
oniv  half  as  abundant  and  half 'as  cheap  as  it  is,  the  prosperity  of  the 
west  would  be  doubled.     As  an  eastern  representative  I  would  never 


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submit  a  proposition  to  raise  the  price  of  the  public  lands;  such  a  pro- 
position would  be  misconstrued  and  perverted.  But  if  1  were  a  western 
man,  I  would  ask  nothing  sooner,  I  would  desire  nothing  more  ear- 
nestly of  this  Government,  than  to  double  the  price  of  these  lands.  It 
would  put  money  in  the  pocket  of  every  western  farmer,  and  in  the 
coffers  of  every  western  State.  Sale  for  the  purpose  of  settlement 
would  not  be  checked  ;  speculation  only  would  be  restrained.  The 
average  income  of  the  nation  would  be  as  great  as  now ;  the  ultimate 
receipts  far  greater;  and  all  parties  would  be  benefitted  in  the  end. 
The  west  has  no  interest,  the  country  has  no  interest,  in  extending  our 
territorial  possessions.  This  Union  of  ours  must  have  limits;  audit 
was  well  said  by  Mr.  Senator  Benton,  in  1825,  that  westwaid  "  the 
lidge  of  the  Rocky  mountains  may  be- named,  without  offence,  as  pre- 
senting a  convenient,  natural,  and  evei lasting  boundary.  Along  the 
back  of  this  ridge  the  western  limit  of  this  republic  should  be  drawn, 
and  the  statue  of  the  fabled  God,  Terminus,  should  be  raised  upon  its 
highest  peak,  never  to  be  thrown  down." 

The  Oregon  question,  however,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  now  presented  to 
us,  is  not  a  question  of  interest,  but  of  right;  not  a  question  as  to  the 
ultimate  reach  of  our  federal  union,  but  as  to  the  existing  extent  of  our 
territorial  title.  Upon  this  point  I  shall  say  little.  An  argument  to 
this  house  in  favor  of  our  title  to  Oregon  would  be  words  thrown  away. 
If  any  man  can  convince  the  British  Government  that  the  territory  is 
ours,  his  labor  will  be  well  employed,  and  the  sooner  he  sets  about  it 
the  better.  But  we  are  convinced  already.  For  myself,  ceitainly,  I 
believe  that  we  have  a  good  title  to  the  whole  twelve  degrees  of  lati- 
tude. I  believe  it,  not  merely  because  it  is  the  part  of  patriotism  to 
believe  one's  own  country  in  the  right,  but  because  I  am  unable  to 
resist  the  conclusions  to  that  effect,  to  which  an  examination  of  the 
evidence  and  the  authorities  hi\ve  brought  me.  In  saying  this,  how- 
ever, I  would  by  no  means  be  inderstood  to  concur  in  the  idea  which 
has  recently  been  advanced  in  jome  quarters,  that  our  title  is  of  such  a 
character  that  we  are  authorized  to  decline  all  negotiation  on  the  subject. 
Why,  sir,  with  what  face  can  we  take  such  a  stand,  with  the  history  of  this 
question  before  us  and  before  the  world  1  Nothing  to  negotiate  about! 
Has  not  every  administration  of  our  Government,  since  we  had  a 
Government  to  be  administered,  treated  this  as  an  open  question  I 
Have  we  not  at  one  time  expressly  offered  to  abandon  all  pretension 
to  five-twelfths  of  the  Territory,  and  to  allow  our  boundary  line  to  fol- 
low the  forty-ninth  degree  of  latitude  1  Have  we  not  united  in  a  con- 
vention of  joint  occupancy  for  thirty  years,  in  order  to  keep  it  an  open 
question?  What  pretence  have  we  for  planting  ourselves  on  our  pre- 
sumed rights  at  this  late  day,  and  for  shutting  our  ears  to  all  overtures 
of  negotiation,  and  all  assertion  or  argument  of  the  rights  of  others  1 
None;  none  whatever.  Such  a  course  would  subject  us  to  the  just  re- 
proach and  scorn  of  the  civilized  world. 

But  the  question  before  the  committee  relates  simply  to  the  termina- 
tion of  the  convention  of  joint  occupancy.  This  convention  originated 
in  the  year  1818,  and  was  limited  to  the  term  of  ten  years.  In  1827  it 
was  extended  indefinitely,  subject,  however,  to  the  right  of  eilher  party 


/ 


to  annul  and  abrogate  the  same,  on  giving  twelve  months  notice  to  the 
other  party.  And  now  the  question  is  not  whether  this  joint  occupa- 
tion of  Oregon  shall  be  continued  forever.  Nobody  imagines  that  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  are  about  to  hold  this  Territory  in 
common  much  longer.  Neither  country  desires  it ;  neither  country 
would  consent  to  it.  The  simple  question  is,  whether  the  United  States 
shall  take  the  responsibility  of  giving  the  notice  to-day;  whether,  after 
having  agreed  to  this  joint  occupancy  for  nearly  thirty  years,  we  shall 
lake  occasion  of  this  precise  moment  in  the  history  of  the  two  countries 
to  insist  on  bringing  it  to  a  close  1  I  am  opposed,  wholly  opposed,  to 
such  a  course.  I  agree  with  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs,  (a  committee,  be  it  remembered,  composed  of  six  members  of 
the  Van  Buren  party,  and  of  three  only  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Clay,) 
that  it  is  entirely  inexpedient  to  act  at  all  on  the  subject  at  this  time; 
and  I  sincerely  wish  that  the  chairman  of  that  committee  (Mr.  C.  J. 
Ingersoll)  had  saved  me  the  trouble  of  advocating  his  own  report,  and 
had  given  us  an  argument  in  favor  of  its  adoption,  instead  of  making 
the  anything  but  reasonable  or  pacific  speech,  which  he  has  just 
concluded. 

Sir,  I  regard  the  proposition  to  give  the  required  notice  to  the  British 
Government  at  this  precise  moment,  as  eminently  ill-timed,  both  in 
regard  to  our  relations  with  Great  Britain  and  to  our  own  domestic  con- 
dition. We  are  just  at  the  close  of  an  administration.  We  are  on  the 
eve  of  another  election  of  President.  How  this  election  may  terminate 
may  be  a  matter  of  doubt  in  some  quarters.  I  have  no  doubt.  But, 
however  it  may  terminate,  it  is  no  more  than  fair  to  those  who  are  to 
be  successful,  to  leave  to  thera  the  initiation  of  a  policy  which  they  are 
to  be  responsible  for  carrying  on  and  completing.  A  twelve  months 
notice!  Why,  to  what  point  of  time  in  our  political  affairs  will  the 
expiration  of  that  notice  bring  us  7  To  the  very  first  month  of  a  new- 
administration  ;  an  administration  which  will  hardly  have  taken  the 
oaths  of  olfice  ',  which  will  hardly  have  selected  and  installed  its  ad- 
visers and  agents;  and  which,  (unless  yon  are  going  to  compel  the 
calling  of  another  extra  session,  only  to  deride  and  denounce  it  after-' 
wards),  will  have  no  Congress  at  the  Capitol  to  act  in  any  way  upon 
its  measures!  This  termination  of  joint  occupation  is  to  be  followed 
by  something,  I  suppose.  It  must  be  followed,  it  is  intended  to  be 
followed,  by  some  act  of  separate  occupation.  If  negotiation,  in  the 
mean  time,  shall  have  failed,  as  it  certainly  will  fail  if  this  notice  be 
given,  something  else  than  negotiation,  a  strife  or  a  struggle  of  some 
sort  must  ensue.  It  may,  or  may  not,  amount  to  an  immediate  war 
with  England.  But  whatever  form  it  may  assume,  it  will  involve 
responsibility,  it  will  require  preparation,  it  will  demand  matured  and 
vigorous  counsels.  And  how  is  a  new  administration,  with  its  cabinet^ 
perhaps,  not  yet  arranged,  and  without  a  Congress  to  sustain  it,  to 
meet  such  an  exigency  as  it  ought  to  be  met? 

Mr.  Chairman,  it  was — I  will  not  say  the  policy  and  design  of  the 
Van  Buren  administration — but  certainly  the  result  of  their  course  on 
going  out  of  ofliice  three  years  ago,  to  precipitate  their  successors,  while 
yet  without  that  matured  organization  which  is  essential  to  any  eflfec- 


Bi 


Ml 
be 
iin 
aid 
of 


the 

ipa- 

the 

y  in 

ntry 

.ate  8 

after 

jhall 

itries 

d,  to 

reign 

jrs  of 

Uay,) 

time; 

C.  J. 

t,  and 

taking 

IS  just 

British 

)oth  in 

,ic  con- 
on  the 

minate 

.     But, 

)  are  to- 

hey  are 

months 

vill  the 
a  new 

<cn  the 

1  its  ad- 
pel  the 
it  after-' 

ay  upoti 

Tollowed 
d  to  be 
.,  in  the 
[otice  be 
of  some 
liate  war 
involve 
ired  and 
cabinet, 
in  it,  to 

rn  of  the 
lourse  on 


ny 


while 
effec- 


tive action,  upon  a  condition  of  foreign  affairs  of  the  most  delicate  and 
dangerous  character.  Few  persons,  I  imagine,  know,  and  few  persons, 
perhaps,  ever  will  know,  how  critical  were  the  relations  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  at  the  precise  instant  of  General  Harri- 
son's accession  to  the  presidency.  My  honored  and  venerable  col- 
league (Mr.  Adams)  seemed  to  understand  them,  when  he  charged  it 
openly  upon  the  Van  Buren  party  a  session  or  two  ago,  that  they  had 
Jired  the  ship  when  they  found  they  could  no  longer  hold  it!  I  trust  that 
there  is  no  design,  no  disposition,  no  willingness,  to  bring  about  the 
same  state  of  things  again.  It  ought  to  be  the  patriotic  aim  of  ua 
all,  thai  whoever  the  next  President  may  be,  he  may  have  a  smooth 
aea  and  a  fair  wind  to  start  with  ;  and  that  he  may  not  be  driven  upon 
storms  and  breakers  before  his  hand  has  fairly  grappled  upon  the 
helm,  and  before  his  crew  have  got  upon  their  sea  legs! 

Sir,  if  there  was  any  thing  too  pacific,  any  thing  too  compromising, 
any  thing  too  yielding  in  the  course  of  President  Tyler,  or  his  Secretary 
of  Slate,  in  conducting  the  recent  negotiations  with  Great  Britain — all 
which  I  utterly  deny — no  small  share  of  the  blame  would  rest  upon  the 
party  which  threw  upon  a  new  administration,  in  the  first  hour  of  its 
existence,  so  perilous  a  responsibility;  the  party  which  brought  the 
country  to  the  very  brink  of  war,  and  there  left  it,  without  preparation 
of  any  sort,  either  of  money  or  munitions;  with  its  navy  dismantled, 
its  fortifications  dilapidated,  and  its  Treasury  many  millions  worse 
than  empty! 

But  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  has  made  a  charge 
in  relation  to  the  treaty  of  Washington,  of  a  somewhat  different  charac- 
ter.  He  has  told  us  that  the  British  ministry  have  succeeded  in  de- 
priving this  country  of  a  considerable  portion  of  our  territory  on  the 
northeast,  with  a  perfect  knowledge  that  they  had  no  right  to  it.  He 
has  told  us  that  the  Prime  Minister  of  England  has  declared  in  Parlia- 
ment that  he  had  proof,  in  the  handwriting  of  a  late  English  monarch, 
that  the  British  claim  was  without  foundation;  and  h*^  i)as  alluded  to 
what  he  calls  a  corresponding  acknowledgment  of  i  distinguished 
member  of  the  House  of  Lords!  Mr.  Chairman,  this  attei>ipt  to  destroy 
the  confidence  of  the  American  Congress  and  of  the  American  people 
in  the  good  faith  and  common  honesty  of  the  British  Government,  at 
the  very  moment  when  we  are  about  to  enter  upon  new  and  critical 
negotiations  with  them,  can  hardly,  in  my  judgment,  be  too  strongly 
condemned.  The  charge  is  entirely  unwarranted.  The  speeches  of 
Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Lord  Brougham  justify  no  such  impeachment  of 
British  integrity.  What  were  the  circumstances  under  which  the  re- 
marks were  made  to  which  the  honorable  member  had  reference  1  It 
is  well  known  that  a  charge  of  bad  faith  had  been  brought  against 
our  negotiator,  Mr.  Webster,  for  having  concealed  from  Lord  Ash- 
burton  all  knowledge  of  a  map  which  had  been  discovered  by 
Mr.  Sparks  in  Paris,  and  which  there  was  the  strongest  reason  for 
believing  to  be  Dr.  Franklin's  map.  This  map  had  a  broad  red 
line  upon  it  in  close  conformity  fo  the  British  claim,  and  was  con- 
sidered as  being  somewhat  of  an  extinguisher  of  the  American  view 
of  the  question,   so   far  as   the   authority   of  maps   was  concerned. 


5^' 


I' 


>". 


Yet  it  was  carefully  concealed  from  the  British  Government  and  the 
British  negotiator.  For  this  proceeding  Mr.  Webster  was  arraigned 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  Lord  Palmerston,  who,  as  Secretary  of 
Foieign  Affairs  for  many  years,  had  failed  in  all  attempts  to  settle  the 
boundary  question,  and  who  was,  perhaps,  a  little  envious  of  the  repu- 
tation which  his  successor,  Lord  Aberdeen,  had  acquired  through  the 
negotiations  of  Lord  Ashbniton,  publicly  arraigned  Mr.  Webster  in 
the  House  of  Comnions,  and  made  substantially  the  same  charge  against 
him,  which  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Foieign  Affairs  in  this 
house  has  now  made  against  the  ministry  of  England.  And  it  was  in 
answer  to  this  attack  upon  Mr.  Webster,  it  was  in  defence  of  our  Secre- 
tary of  State — not,  perhaps,  without  some  view  of  vindicating  ibom- 
selves  from  the  imputation  of  having  been  overreached  in  the  negotia- 
tion— that  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Lord  Brougham  brought  forward  the 
fact  to  which  the  honorable  gentleman  has  alluded.  They  stated  that 
the  British  Government,  as  well  as  the  American  Government,  had 
concealed  maps  which  made  against  their  own  claim;  that  Lord  Pal- 
merston himself  had  been  guilty  of  the  same  suppression;  that,  beside 
other  maps  of  less  significance,  which  had  been  kept  out  of  sight  by  the 
ministry  of  England,  there  was  one  which  could  be  traced  back  to  the 
possession  of  George  the  third,  the  monarch  in  whose  time  the  separa- 
tion of  the  two  countries  had  taken  place,  and  upon  which  there  was 
a  red  line  in  precise  conformity  with  the  American  claim.  But  what 
was  their  course  of  remark  upon  the  subject  1  Did  they,  as  the  gen- 
tleman would  imply,  admit  that  these  maps,  on  either  side,  would 
have  been  considered  as  conclusive  evidence  of  the  intention  of  the 
tieaty  of  1783  ?  No  such  thing;  they  ridiculed  such  an  idea.  Sir 
Robert  Peel  commenced  his  remarks  on  this  subject  by  saying : — 

"  The  noble  lord  has  spoken  at  great  length  of  a  map  recently  discovered.  He  seems  to  think 
that  that  map,  so  discovered,  affords  conclusive  evidence  of  the  justice  of  the  British  claims. 
Now,  sir,  in  the  first  place,  let  me  observe  to  the  noble  lord,  that  contemporary  maps  may  be — 
where  the  words  of  the  treaty  referred  to  by  them  are  in  themselves  doubtful — they  may  be  evi- 
dence of  the  intentions  of  those  who  framed  them,  but  the  treaty  must  be  executed  according 
to  the  words  contained  in  it.  Even  if  the  mav  tvere  nustaiiied  by  the  parties,  it  could  not  con' 
travene  the  words  of  the  treaty." 

And  Lord  Brougham  followed  out  the  same  idea  in  his  speech  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  when  he  said : 

"  But  the  map  does  not  tally  with  the  description  given.  Suppose  you  had  an  account,  in 
writing,  that  the  Thames,  as  is  the  fact,  forms  the  boundary  of  the  counties  of  Surrey  and  Mid- 
dlesex ;  and  suppose  you  found  a  map,  or  chart,  or  plan  connected  with  that  description,  on 
which  a  red  line  through  Piccadilly  was  drawn  as  the  boundary — I  should  not  take  it ;  I  should 
go  down  to  the  river ;  because  the  red  line  is  only  to  be  regarded  if  the  words  do  not  speak  for 
themselves,  or  the  language  is  ambiguous.     And  the  same  is  the  case  here,  more  or  less." 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  only  after  these  explicit  denials  of  the 
idea,  that  maps,  under  whatever  circumstances  they  may  have  been 
found,  are  to  be  taken  as  conclusive  evidence  as  to  the  justice  of  claims 
resting  on  the  descriptions  of  a  treaty,  that  Lord  Brougham  and  Sir 
Robert  Peel  proceed  to  disclose  the  fact  of  the  discovery  of  the  map  of 
George  the  Third  ;  and  that,  only  in  the  way  of  set-off"  to  the  map 
which  is  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  Dr.  Franklin.  They  do,  indeed^ 
speak  somewhat  largely  and  roundly  as  to  the  effect  which  the  pro- 


'k- 

0'. 


t  and  the 
nrrnigned 
retary  of 
settle  the 
the  repu- 
ongh  the 
ebster  in 
re  against 
IS  in  this 
it  was  in 
>ur  Secre- 
ing  tuom- 
;  negotia- 
ward  the 
tatod  that 
ncnt,  had 
Lord  Pal- 
at,  beside 
rht  by  the 
ick  to  the 
le  separa- 
ihere  was 
But  what 
}  the  gen- 
de,  would 
ion  of  the 
lidea.     Sir 


;cms  to  think 
ritish  claims, 
ips  may  be— 
may  be  evi- 
\(:d  according 
)uld  not  con- 

\ch.  in  the 


account,  in 
\cey  and  Mid- 
ascription,  on 
J  it ;  I  should 
lot  speak  for 

less." 

lis  of  the 
ive  been 
|of  claims 
and  Sir 
le  map  of 
Ithe  map 
I,  indeed^ 
the  pro- 


duction of  this  map  of  George  the  Third  might  have  had  on  the  settle- 
ment of  the  boimdary  question,  in  case  maps  were  to  be  taken  as  conclu- 
sive evidence.  But  Ih'iving  expressly  denied  that  they  were  to  be  so 
taken — having  rejected  and  litliculed  the  idea  of  the  red  lines  of  a  map 
being  allowed  to  control  the  black  letters  of  a  treaty  description — their 
language,  however  round,  admits  of  no  such  construction  as  has  been 
given  to  it  by  the  honorable  gentleman  who  has  just  taken  his  seat. 

Sir,  there  is  no  evidence  whatever,  in  my  judgment,  of  bad  fjiith  on 
the  part  of  the  British  government  in  these  speeches  of  the  Prime  Min- 
ister and  Lord  Brougham.  I  do  not  profess  to  be  deeply  versed  in  the 
science  of  political  morals  or  international  obligation ;  but  I  should  say 
that  the  principles  of  common  honesty  and  common  sense  would  lead 
to  this  conclusion  : — If  a  government,  after  having  set  up  a  claim  of 
any  sort,  should  find  in  its  own  possession  conclusive  evidence,  evi- 
dence conclusive  upon  its  own  conscience,  that  the  claim  was  unfound- 
ed, it  is  bound,  in  all  honor  and  in  all  justice,  to  disclose  the  evidence 
and  abandon  the  claim.  But  if  the  evidence  fall  short  of  demonstra- 
tion— if  reasonable  and  conscientious  doubts  still  rest  upon  the  ques- 
tion— if  there  be  ground  enough  left  for  maintaining  the  claim  at  all — 
it  would  be  the  height  of  absurdity  in  such  a  government,  and  a  piece 
of  most  gratuitous  generosity  to  their  opponent,  to  make  such  a  disclo- 
sure. Why,  sir,  the  circumstances  of  the  case  we  are  considering  fur- 
nish the  best  possible  illustration  that  the  position  I  have  taken  is  the 
only  aoimd  or  safe  one.  Here  wei'e  maps  in  the  secret  possession  of 
each  government  at  the  same  moment,  which  were  believed  by  each 
respectively  to  present  formidable  testimony  against  its  own  claim,  and 
the  production  of  either  of  which,  singly,  might  have  seriously  alFccted 
the  final  settlement  of  the  disputed  boundary.  Suppose  Mr.  Webster 
had  disclosed  to  Lord  Ashburton  tlie  map  which  was  then  believed  to 
have  belonged  to  Dr.  Franklin,  and  the  consequence  had  been  a  much 
larger  relinquishment  of  territory,  on  our  part,  than  has  actually  taken 
place : — Or,  suppose  Sir  Robert  Peel  had  sent  over  to  Mr.  Webster  the 
map  of  George  the  Third,  and  had  consented,  upon  the  strength  of  it, 
toa  line  less  favorable  to  his  own  country : — What  would  the  government 
which  obtained  the  advantage  under  such  circumstances  have  thought 
of  the  diplomacy  and  statesmanship  of  its  antagonist?  And  even  if 
both  governments  had  shown  their  hands,  and  exhibited  their  maps  si- 
multaneously, what  would  have  been  produced  but  a  mutual  laugh  at 
each  other,  and  a  laugh  of  all  the  world  at  both!  And  the  laugh,  cer- 
tainly, woidd  not  have  been  diminished,  if  it  had  afterwards  proved  that 
the  recently  discovered  map  of  Mr.  Jay,  the  only  map  which  we  now 
know  certainly  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  tlie  negotiators  of 
1783,  was  materially  different  from  both  the  other  two.  Well,  sir,  did 
Mr.  Webster  say  for  himself,  on  this  subject,  that  "  he  confessed  he 
did  not  think  it  a  very  urgent  duty,  on  his  part,  to  go  to  Lord  Ashbur- 
ton and  tell  him  that  he  had  found  a  bit  of  doubtful  evidence  in  Paris, 
out  of  which  he  might,  perhaps,  make  something  to  the  prejudice  of 
our  claims,  and  from  which  he  could  set  up  higher  claims  for  himself, 
or  obscure  the  whole  matter  still  further,"  And  no  less  well,  in  my 
judgment,  did  Lord  Brougham  "deny  that  a  negotiator,  in  carrying  on 


.r 


T 


k 
I, 


I; 


I 

t: 
"•■li 


8 

a  controversy,  aa  representing  his  own  countr}'  with  a  foreign  country, 
is  bound  to  disclose  to  the  other  party  whatever  he  may  know  thai 
tells  against  his  own  country  and  for  the  opposite  party  ;  any  more  than 
an  advocate  is  bound  to  tell  the  court  all  that  he  deems  to  make  against 
his  own  client  and  for  his  adversary."  A  just  nation,  like  a  just  man, 
will  never  set  up  a  claim  which  it  knows  to  have  no  foundation ;  but 
both  nations  and  individuals  may  withhold  from  an  opposite  party, 
(except  where  ihcy  are  under  question  upon  oath)  any  evidence  which 
would  weaken  a  claim  which  they  believe  to  be  well  founded,  without 
subjecting  themselves  to  any  rightful  impeachment  of  their  honor  or 
good  faith. 

I  repeat,  Mr.  Chairman,  thnt  (his  attempt  to  destroy  the  confidence 
of  the  American  people  in  the  fairness  of  the  British  Government,  ond 
to  produce  the  impression  that  they  have  dishonestly  deprived  us  of  a 
portion  of  our  territory,  and  are  now  openly  chuckling  over  the  success 
of  an  avowed  fraud,  cannot  be  too  strongly  reprobated.  The  direct 
tendency  of  such  a  course  is  to  create  an  exasperated  popular  feeling 
towards  Great  Britain,  which  will  forbid  the  settlement  of  any  future 
dispute  with  that  power,  except  by  the  sword ;  which  will  henceforth 
acknowledge  the  validity  of  no  red  lines,  but  those  which  shall  have 
been  run  with  blood  ;  and  which  will  lead  inevitably,  and  at  no  distant 
day,  to  war  for  Oregon.  I  trust  that  this  is  not  the  design  of  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

But  the  honorable  gentleman  has  not  been  content  with  charging 
fraud  upon  the  British  Government  in  relation  to  the  late  treaty.  He 
has  told  us  that  this  treaty  was  accomplished  and  consummated  against 
the  unanimous  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Maine.  Sir,  I  should  like 
to  know  where  the  honorable  gentleman  has  found  the  evidence  of 
this  unanimous  sentiment  of  the  people  of  Maine  against  the  Treaty 
of  Washington.  The  Commissioners  of  Maine  were  on  the  spot  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  its  negotiation.  They  prepared,  it  is  true,  a 
somewhat  elaborate  argument  against  relinquishing  any  part  of  their 
territorial  claim.  But  what  did  they  do  afterwards  1  How  did  they 
conclude  that  argument?  They  gave  their  formal  and  unanimous  as- 
sent to  the  arrangement  which  Mr.  Webster  and  Lord  Ashburton  had 
agreed  on.  They  signed  the  treaty.  What  pretence,  then,  is  there  for 
the  assertion,  that  Maine  was  dismembered  against  the  unanimous 
sentiment  of  her  people  1 

Mr.  Ingersoll  (Mr.  W.  yielding  the  floor  for  explanation)  remarked, 
that  he  was  sorry  this  matter  was  gone  into,  but  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  provoked  him  to  say  (he  did  not  mean  any  thing  offen- 
sive) that  he  (Mr.  I.)  had  in  his  place,  from  day  to  day,  been  inform- 
ed by  a  gentleman  from  Maine,  no  longer  a  member  of  this  House, 
that  all  that  had  been  brought  about  by  tricks,  practised  on  the  Maine 
Commissioners,  such  as  were  attempted  to  be  practised  upon  Senators 
at  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol. 

Mr.  Winthrop  continued :  And  neither  do  I  mean  any  thing  offen- 
sive ;  but  I  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  I  believe  Mr.  Webster  to  be 
quite  as  incapable  of  tricks,  as  the  honorable  gentleman  himself,  and 
that  I  demand  some  better  evidence  of  the  fact  than  the  private  whia- 


jn  country, 
know  thai 
f  more  than 
ake  against 
a  just  man, 
Jation ;  but 
osite  party, 
ence  which 
ed,  without 
ir  honor  or 

confidence 
nment,  and 
ved  us  of  a 
the  success 

The  direct 
ular  feeling 

any  future 

henceforth 
1  shall  have 
t  no  distant 
i']gn  of  the 

th  charging 

treaty.     He 

ited  against 

should  like 

idence  of 

he  Treaty 

spot  dur- 

is  true,  a 

art  of  their 

vv  did  they 

nimous  as- 

>urton  had 

is  there  for 

unanimous 

remarked, 
(man  from 
ling  offen- 
;n  inform- 
lis  House, 
the  Maine 
Senators 

ing  offen- 
jster  to  be 
nself,  and 

ate  whis- 


pers which  the  gentleman  has  retailed.  Why  has  not  the  person  who 
gave  this  information  made  it  public  before  this  time,  upon  his  own 
responsibility  1  If  the  Maine  Commissioners  were  tricked  into  an  as- 
sent to  the  treaty,  why  have  they  not  found  it  out  themselves,  and 
disclosed  the  circumstances  1  Sir,  I  deny  the  whole  allegation.  This 
effort  to  array  an  opposition  against  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  in  re- 
ference to  the  Maine  boundary,  is  all  an  afterthought.  At  the  time  it 
was  negotiated,  it  met  with  a  very  general,  if  not  an  unanimous,  as- 
sent in  both  the  States  which  were  interested  in  the  question;  in 
Maine  ro  less  than  in  Massachusetts.  And  even  to  this  day,  all  at- 
tempts which  have  been  made  to  get  up  a  public  sentiment  against  the 
treaty,  have  signally  failed.  That  treaty  was  ratified  by  a  vote  of  five- 
sixths  of  the  Senate  ;  and  I  have  not  the  slightest  belief  that  some  of  the 
Senators  who  voted  against  it,  (if  any  of  them,)  would  have  dared  to  take 
the  responsibility  of  defeating  it,  if  their  votes  would  have  produced 
such  a  result.  There  is  no  way  of  securing  an  impunity  in  regard  to 
any  public  measure,  more  easy  and  obvious,  than  to  vote  against  it 
when  you  are  certain  that  your  vote  will  not  prevent  its  adoption.  If 
the  measure  turns  out  to  be  acceptable  to  the  country,  nobody  will  care 
who  voted  against  it ;  while,  if  it  proves  to  be  unpopular  in  c'liy  quar- 
ter, you  are  at  full  liberty  to  unite  in  denouncing  it.  This  is  a  politi- 
cal trick,  (to  borrow  the  gentleman's  term,)  which  is  often  played  by 
aspiring  politicians.  Whether  it  will  accountfor  any  part  of  the  opposi- 
tion to  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  others  can  judge  as  well  as  myself. 
Whether  it  will  or  not,  however,  is  of  very  little  importance.  The 
treaty  has  commended  itself  so  entirely  to  the  approbation  of  the 
American  people,  that  the  liberty  of  finding  fault  with  it  has  proved 
utterly  worthless.  The  negotiators  are  out  with  all  the  honors,  and  there  is 
no  chance  for  tricks  to  tell.  In  the  whole  records  of  diplomacy,  Ameri- 
can or  European,  there  can  not  be  found  a  negotiation  which  has  been 
hailed  with  more  undivided  satisfaction  by  those  who  were  interested 
in  its  results,  than  this  has  been  by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Its  influence  will  not  soon  be  lost  on  the  civilized  world.  It  will  stand 
on  the  pages  of  history,  as  a  noble  example  of  what  may  be  accomplished 
by  the  honest  arts  of  Peace,  and  will  impress  with  the  force  of  convic- 
tion on  the  nations  of  the  earth,  the  lesson  which  they  have  been  so 
long  in  learning,  that  war  is  not  the  only  resort,  or  the  best  resort,  for 
settling  international  disputes,  but  that  true  honor  may  be  maintainedf 
real  interest  secured,  just  pride  preserved,  without  the  sacrifice  of  a 
single  life,  or  the  libation  of  one  drop  of  blood! 

The  honorable  gentleman  has  alluded  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  has  ex- 
pressed his  gratification  that  he  has  accepted  the  appointment  of  Sec- 
retary of  State.  Has  he  I'orgotten  that  one  of  the  ablest  speeches 
made  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  support  of  the  late  treaty, 
was  made  by  this  distinguished  statesman  of  South  Carolina  ?  Has  he 
forgotten,  too,  that  the  crowning  glory  of  that  treaty,  in  Mr.  Calhoun's 
estimation,  was  that  it  would  establish  "  a  permanent  amity  and  peace" 
between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States'?  "  A  kind  Providence 
(said  Mr.  Calhoun)  has  cast  our  lot  on  a  portion  of  the  globe  sufficiently 
vast  to  satisfy  the  most  grasping  ambition,  and  abounding  in  resources 


10 


beyond  all  others,  which  only  require  to  be  fully  developed  to  make 
us  the  greatest  and  most  prosperous  people  on  earth."  "Peare,"  said 
he,  "  is,  indeed,  our  policy.  Peace  is  the  first  of  our  wants."  Why, 
sir,  if  the  honorable  gentleman  will  turn  to  the  speech  of  this  political 
friend  and  brother  democrat  of  his,  he  will  find  it  as  copious  in  its 
eulogies  on  the  blessings  of  peace,  as  any  of  the  more  recent  speeches 
in  the  Senate,  which  he  has  ridiculed  under  the  title  of  sermons.  I 
honor  Mr.  Calhoini  for  such  expressions.  Let  him  carry  into  the  ne- 
gotiations upon  the  Oregon  question,  the  same  spirit  which  he  mani- 
fested in  relation  to  the  Treaty  of  Washington,  let  him  '  seek  peace 
and  ensue  it,'  in  his  management  of  our  foreign  aflfairs,  and  he  will 
have  earned  a  title  to  the  regard  of  all  good  men  and  true  patriots.  I 
rejoice  to  believe  that  he  will  do  so.  On  the  subject  of  Oregon,  in- 
deed, he  is  already  committed  to  a  pacific  policy.  The  honorable  gen- 
tleman is  quite  mistaken  in  his  idea  of  Mr.  Calhoun's  argument  against 
the  bill  for  (he  armed  occupation  of  Oregon  last  winter.  There  was 
noilung  whatever  in  that  argument  to  give  the  impression  that  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  in  favor  of  giving  this  notice  now  or  at  any  early  day.  On 
the  contrary,  the  whole  strain  and  stress  of  the  argument  was  in  favor 
of  abstaining  altogether  from  any  action  upon  the  subject.  "  There  is 
often,"  said  Mr.  Calhoun,  "  in  the  aflfairs  of  Government,  more  eflSci- 
ency  and  wisdom  in  non-action  than  in  action.  All  we  want,  to  effect 
our  object  in  this  case,  is  a  wise  and  masterly  inactivity."  "  Our  po- 
pulation," said  he,  ''-will  soon — far  sooner  than  anticipated — reach 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  be  ready  to  pour  into  the  Oregon  Territory, 
when  it  will  come  into  our  possession  without  resistance  or  struggle  j 
or,  if  there  should  be  resistance,  it  would  be  feeble  and  inefToctual. 
We  would  then  be  as  much  stronger  there,  comparatively,  than  Great 
Britain,  as  she  is  now  stronger  than  we  are  ;  and  it  would  then  be  as 
idle  ill  her  to  attempt  to  assert  or  maintain  her  exclusive  claim  to  the 
territory  against  us,  as  it  would  now  be  in  us  to  attempt  it  against  her. 
Let  us  be  wise,  and  abide  oiu-  time,  and  it  will  accomplish  all  that  we 
desire,  with  far  more  certainty,  and  with  infinitely  less  sacrifice,  than 
we  can  without  it." 

I  have  no  idea,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  it  will  be  in  ojir  power,  under 
present  circumstances,  to  avail  ourselves  of  this  good  advice  of  Mr. 
Calhoun,  or  that  he  will  find  himself  able,  in  his  new  capacity,  to  leave 
this  question  to  the  operation  of  time.  The  ill-advised  and  most  un- 
seasonable debates  on  this  subject,  which  have  taken  place  in  both 
branches  of  Congress  during  the  last  two  years,  have  not  only  created 
an  impatience,  in  some  quarters  of  the  country,  which  will  brook  no 
further  delay;  but  have  so  roused  the  attention  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment to  our  policy,  as  to  forbid  the  idea  that  they  would  acquiesce  in 
any  further  postponement  of  the  question.  A  new  minister  from  Eng- 
land has,  indeed,  arrived,  who  is  well  understood  to  be  specially 
charged  with  the  negotiation  of  it.  And  it  is  now  to  be  decided,  so 
far  as  this  House  is  concerned,  in  what  spirit  that  negotiation  shall  be 
conducted.  Shall  it  be  entered  on,  by  this  Government,  in  that  spirit 
of  menace  and  defiance  which  has  characterized  the  whole  speech  of 
the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania^  or  in  that  spirit  of  cour. 


11 


3d  to  make 
eace,^^  said 
s."  VVhy, 
lis  political 
)ion3  in  its 
nt  speeches 
sermons.  I 
into  tlie  ne- 
;li  he  inani- 

seek  peaco 
ind  he  will 
patriots.  I 
Oregon,  in- 
lorable  gen- 
lent  against 

There  was 

)n  that  Mr. 

rly  day.  On 

was  in  favor 

'<  There  is 

more  effici- 
int,  to  effect 
"  Oin-  po- 
ated — reach 
n  Territory, 
[Or  struggle  ; 
neffoctual. 

than  Great 
til  en  be  as 
aim  to  (he 

against  her, 
all  that  we 

;ritice,  than 

wer,  under 
ice  of  Mr. 
ty,  to  leave 
most  un- 
ace  in  both 
Illy  created 
1  brook  no 
ah  Govern- 
cqiiiesce  in 
from  Eng- 
specially 
ecided,  so 
n  shall  be 
that  spirit 
speech  of 
irit  of  conr- 


tcey  and  magnanimity  which  becomes  a  civilized  and  Christian,  as  well 
as  a  brave  and  powerful,  nation? 

Sir,  I  have  already  declared  my  opinion  that  the  required  notice  for 
the  termination  of  the  joint  occupation  of  Oregon  ought  not  to  be  given 
at  this  moment,  in  view  of  our  own  domestic  condition.  But  a  hundred 
fold  more  ill  advised  does  such  a  proceeding  strike  me,  in  view  of  our 
immediate  relations  to  the  British  government.  In  my  judgment,  it 
would  be  an  act  of  rudeness,  of  indecency,  of  offence,  as  unworthy  a» 
it  would  be  wanton.  What  possible  pretence  of  expediency  or  neces- 
sity is  there  for  such  a  course  1  Here  is  an  ambassador  on  the  ground, 
ready  at  any  instant  to  go  into  negotiations  with  us  on  the  subject. 
But  for  the  deplorable  catastrophe  which  has  recenlly  deprived  the 
President  of  two  members  of  his  cabinet,  those  negotiations  would  have 
already  been  entered  on.  And  is  this  a  moment,  when  we  have  seen 
no  disadvantage  and  no  disgrace  in  this  joint  occupation  during  a  term 
of  thirty  years,  when  all  Presidents  and  all  parties  have  acquiesced  in 
its  continuance  throughout  that  long  period — is  this  a  moment  for  in- 
sisting on  its  being  brought  to  a  close  1  Is  this  a  respectful  or  a  re- 
spectable mode  of  meeting  the  overtures  of  the  British  government  for 
a  settlement  of  the  Oregon  question  1  Will  it  give  us  an  increased 
hope  of  effecting  such  a  settlement  amicably,  honorably,  satisfactorily, 
to  tell  ihe  British  minister,  "  Sir,  we  will  allow  a  year  for  this  business. 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  we  shall  cry  havoc,  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of 
war?"  The  hotjorable  gentleman  has  alluded  to  the  code  of  honor^ 
and  to  the  manner  of  settling  difficulties  among  gentlemen.  There 
are  those  present,  doubtless,  who  understand  the  nice  points  of  that 
code.  What  would  be  thought  by  them,  if,  while  negotiations  of  this 
sort  were  pending,  one  of  the  parties  should  undertake  to  limit  the 
lime  within  which  there  must  be  a  settlement  or  a  fight?  Undoubt- 
edly, Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  a  right  to  give  such  a  notice  to  Great 
Britain;  but,  in  my  judgment,  the  exercise  of  that  right  at  this  moment 
would  not  only  tend  to  protract,  embarrass,  and  ultimately  defeat  the 
negotiations  which  are  now  about  to  be  opened,  but  would  impair  the 
honor  of  this  nation  in  the  estimation  of  the  civilized  world.  We 
should  be  reproached  and  rebuked  for  it  by  the  general  sense  of  Eu- 
rope. And  is  the  American  character  abroad  at  so  high  a  mark  at  this 
moment,  that  we  can  afford  to  trifle  with  it?  True,  sir,  many  of  the 
censures  which  have  recently  been  cast  on  this  Republic  are  unrea- 
sonable. Perhaps  I  might  agree  with  the  honorable  gentlemaa  from 
Pennsylvania,  that  the  attacks  which  have  been  made  upon  the  cha- 
racter and  honesty  of  his  own  Commonwealth,  and  which  seem  to  haveso 
sharpened  the  edge  of  his  acrimony  against  England,  are  a  good  deal 
overcharged.  At  any  rate,  I  feel  as  strongly  as  any  one  the  injustice 
of  involving  the  whole  nation  in  the  repudiation  of  two  or  three  of  the 
separate  States;  and  the  same  discrimination  between  the  acts  of  indi- 
vidual States  and  the  acts  of  the  United  States  may,  I  am  aware,  be 
pleaded  in  explanation  of  other  circumstances  which  have  brought  re- 
pioach  from  some  quarters  upon  our  national  good  name.  But  the  fact 
is  not  less  true,  nor  less  lamentable,  that  our  character  as  a  nation,  in 
one  way  or  another,  justly  or  unjustly,  has  been  not  a  little  lowered. 


12 


of  late  years,  in  the  regard  of  foreign  nations.  Now,  sir,  for  whatever 
we  do  in  relation  to  this  question  of  Oregon,  we  can  set  up  no  divided 
responsibility.  The  Nation,  as  a  Nation,  must  do  whatever  is  done  ; 
and  the  Nation,  as  a  Nation,  must  be  held  answerable.  Let  us  then 
forbear  from  pursuing  any  course,  from  taking  any  step,  from  express- 
ing any  purpose,  which  may  give  color  to  a  new  stain  upon  our  national 
character.  Let  us  desist  from  all  action  and  all  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject until  Mr.  Pakenham  has,  at  least,  opened  his  budget,  and  until 
our  own  Government,  too,  is  in  a  condition  to  pursue  with  vigor  and 
effect  whatever  policy  we  may  ultimately  be  compelled  to  adopt. 

But  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  finds  nothing  to 
regret  in  the  state  of  opinion  abroad  as  to  the  American  character;  he 
even  rejoices  at  the  violent  and  vituperative  tone  of  the  British  press 
in  relation  to  his  own  State.  And  whyl  Because  he  thinks  it  may 
have  a  tendency  to  counteract  the  idolatrous  disposition  which  exists 
in  some  parts  of  this  country  towards  Great  Britain !  Mr.  Chairman, 
I  know  of  nothing  more  worthy  of  condemnation  in  the  political  his- 
tory of  the  present  day,  than  the  systematic  effort  of  the  self-styled 
Democratic  party  of  this  country  to  stir  up  a  prejudice  against  England 
upon  every  occasion,  and  to  create  an  impression  that  every  man  who 
does  not  fall  in  with  their  principles  and  their  policy  is  in  some  sort  of 
British  interest,  or  under  some  kind  of  British  influence.  There  are 
some  of  the  leaders  of  this  party,  with  whom  hatred  to  England  would 
seem  to  be  the  only  standard  of  American  patriotism,  and  with  whom 
it  seems  to  be  enough,  to  determine  their  course  upon  all  questions 
either  of  right  or  of  expediency,  to  know  what  will  be  most  offensive 
to  the  British  power.  War,  war  with  England,  is  the  ever-burning 
passion  of  their  soul ;  and  any  one  who  pursues  a  policy  or  advocates  a 
measure  which  may  postpone  or  avert  the  consummation  which  they 
so  devoutly  desire,  becomes  the  chosen  object  of  their  insinuations  and 
reproaches.  For  myself,  sir,  1  hold  in  utter  contempt  all  such  insinu- 
ations. If  it  be  a  fit  subject  for  reproach,  to  entertain  the  most  anx- 
ious and  ardent  desire  for  the  peace  of  this  country,  its  peace  with 
England,  its  peace  with  all  the  world,  I  submit  myself  willingly  to  the 
fullest  measure  of  that  reproach.  War  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  for  Oregon  !  Sir,  there  is  something  in  this  idea  too  mon- 
strous to  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  The  two  greatest  nations  on 
the  globe,  with  more  territorial  possessions  than  they  know  what  to  do 
with  already,  and  bound  together  by  so  many  ties  of  kindred,  and  lan- 
guage, and  commercial  interest,  going  to  war  for  a  piece  of  barren 
earth  !  Why,  it  would  put  back  the  cause  of  civilization  a  whole  cen- 
tury, and  would  be  enough  not  merely  to  call  down  the  rebuke  of  men, 
but  the  curse  of  God.  I  do  not  yield  to  the  honorable  gentleman  in  a 
just  concern  for  the  national  honor.  I  am  ready  to  maintain  that  honor, 
whenever  it  is  really  at  stake,  against  Great  Britain  as  readily  as  against 
any  other  nation.  Indeed,  if  war  is  to  come  upon  us,  I  am  quite  will- 
ing that  it  should  be  war  with  a  first-rate  power — with  a  foeman  worthy 
of  our  steel. 

— — — "  Oh,  the  blood  more  stirs 
To  rouse  the  lion  than  to  start  the  hara." 


ai 

a 


13 


r  whatever 
no  divided 
r  is  done  ; 
et  us  then 
111  expiess- 
nr  national 
if  this  sub- 
L,  and  until 

I  vigor  and 
idopt. 
nothing  to 
iiacter ;  he 
British  press 
inks  it  may 
hich  exists 

Chairman, 
olitical  his- 
:  self-styled 
ist  England 
y  man  who 
some  sort  of 

There  are 
fland  would 

with  whom 

II  questions 
pst  offensive 
ver-burning 

dvocates  a 
which  they 
nations  and 
uch  insinu- 
most  anx- 
leace  with 
igly  to  the 
States  and 
a  too  mon- 
nations  on 
what  to  do 
d,  and  lan- 
of  barren 
whole  cen- 
ke  of  men, 
Ionian  in  a 
hat  honor, 
as  against 
quite  will- 
an  worthy 


If  the  young  queen  of  England  were  the  veritable  Victoria  whom  the 
ancient  poets  have  sometimes  described  as  descending  from  the  right 
hand  of  Jupiter  to  crown  the  banner  of  predestined  Triumph,  I  would 
still  not  shrink  from  the  attempt  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  my  country 
on  every  proper  occasion.  To  her  foices,  however,  as  well  as  to  ours, 
may  come  the  ''  cila  mors,^'  as  well  as  the  "  Victoria  lata.^^  We  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  a  protracted  war  with  any  nation,  though  our  want 
of  preparation  might  give  us  the  worst  of  it  in  the  first  encounter.  We 
are  all  and  always  ready  for  war,  when  there  is  no  other  alternative 
for  maintaining  our  country's  honor.  We  are  all  and  always  ready  for 
any  war  into  Avhich  a  Christian  man,  in  a  civilized  land,  and  in  this 
age  of  (he  world,  can  have  the  face  to  enter.  But  I  thank  God  that 
there  are  very  few  such  cases.  War  and  honor  are  fast  getting  to  have 
less  and  less  to  do  with  each  other.  The  highest  honor  of  any  country 
is  to  preseive  peace,  even  under  provocations  which  might  justify  war. 
The  deepest  disgrace  to  any  country  is  to  plunge  into  war  under  cir- 
cumstances which  leave  the  honorable  alternative  of  peace.  I  heartily 
hope  and  trust,  sir,  that  in  deference  to  the  sense  of  the  civilized  world, 
in  deference  to  that  spirit  of  Christianity  which  is  now  spreading  its 
benign  and  healing  inliuences  over  both  hemispheres  with  such  signal 
lapidity,  we  shall  explore  the  whole  field  of  diplomacy,  and  exhaust 
every  art  of  negotiation,  before  we  give  loose  to  that  passion  for  con- 
flict which  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  seems  to  regard 
as  so  grand  and  glorious  an  element  of  the  American  character. 

But  Great  Britain  is  so  grasping,  so  aggressive,  so  insidious  and  inso- 
lent, so  overreaching  and  overbearing!  Does  not  her  banner  flout  ua 
at  every  turn  1  Does  not  her  drumbeat  disturb  our  dreams  by  night, 
and  almost  drown  our  voices  by  day?  Is  she  not  hemming  us  in  on 
every  side  ;  compassing  us  about  in  a  daily  diminishing  circle ;  and  are 
not  our  outer  walls  already  tottering  at  the  sound  of  her  trumpets'? 
Nay,  have  not  her  blandishments  succeeded  where,  as  yet,  her  arms 
have  failed?  Has  she  not  scaled  our  very  ramparts  and  penetrated  to 
our  very  citadel  ia  a  shower  of  corrupting  gold?  What  but  British 
GOLD  carried  the  last  presidential  election  against  the  people  1  What 
but  British  gold  is  about  to  carry  the  next  1  What  were  the  twelve 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  voters  which  deposed  Mr.  Vaa 
Buren  from  the  chief  magistracy  in  1840,  and  who  are  now  rallying^ 
again,  with  renewed  energy,  to  the  old  watchwords,  against  his  restora- 
tion, but  so  many  British  Whigs?  Is  there  a  Whig,  in  all  the  land, 
■who  dares  deny,  that  when  he  voted  for  General  Harrison,  he  had  a 
British  heart  in  his  bosom,  and  a  British  sovereign  in  his  pocket?  Mr, 
Chairman,  let  me  call  to  the  remembrance  of  the  committee  a  story 
which  was  introduced  by  the  celebrated  George  Canning  into  on© 
of  his  speeches  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  which  has  thus  the 
highest  sanction  as  not  beneath  the  dignity  of  parliamentary  debate. 
It  is  the  story  of  a  painter,  who  had  made  himself  somewhat  eminent 
in  the  professional  sphere  in  which  he  moved,  but  who  had  directed 
his  art  altogether  to  one  favorite  subject.  This  subject  was  a  red  lioriy 
■which  he  had  learned  to  depict  in  great  perfection.  One  of  his  ear- 
liest patrons  was  the  keeper  of  a  public  house,  who  wished  something 


14 


: 


appropriate  painted  on  his  sign  board.  The  painter,  of  course,  executed 
his  red  lion.  A  gentleman  in  the  vicinity,  who  had  a  new  mansion- 
house  which  he  wished  to  have  ornamented,  was  the  next  employer  of  the 
artist,  and,  in  order  to  afford  him  full  scope  for  his  genius,  g-ave  him 
his  own  choice  of  a  subject  for  the  principal  panel  in  his  dining-room. 
The  artist  took  time  to  deliberate,  and  then  said,  with  the  utmost 
gravity,  "  don't  you  think  that  a  handsome  red  lion  would  have  a  fine 
effect  in  this  situation?"  The  gentleman,  as  you  may  imagine,  did  not 
feel  quite  satisfied  with  the  selection,  but  resolved  to  let  the  painter 
follow  his  own  fancy  in  this  instance,  trusting  to  have  a  design  of  more 
elegance  and  distinction  in  his  drawing-room  or  library,  to  which  he 
next  conducted  him.  ''  Here,  said  he,  I  must  have  something  striking ; 
the  space  is  small,  and  the  device  must  be  proportionably  delicate." 
The  painter  paused;  appeared  to  dive  down  to  the  very  bottom  of  his 
invention,  and  thence  to  ascend  again  to  its  highest  heaven  for  aa 
idea,  and  then  said,  "what  do  you  think  of  a  small  red  lion?'^ 

Well  now,  sir,  the  course  of  a  certain  class  of  politicians  in  this 
country  seems  to  me  to  have  a  most  marvellous  analogy  to  that  of  the 
painter  in  this  story.  This  cry  of  British  Whigs,  this  clamor  about 
British  gold,  this  never-ending  alarum  about  British  aggression  and 
British  encroachment,  this  introduction  of  the  red  lion  on  every  occa- 
sion, seems  to  be  the  one  great  reliance  of  the  political  artists  of  a  cer- 
tain school.  There  is  always  a  lion  in  the  path  of  the  self-styled 
Democratic  party  of  the  United  States;  a  British  lion,  red  with  the 
blood  of  cruelty  and  oppression,  which  it  is  their  peculiar  mission  to 
slay,  but  which  the  Whigs  are  leagued  together  to  defend.  Whatever 
principle,  whatever  project,  may  be  under  discussion  in  this  House, 
or  before  the  people,  the  red  lion  is  sure  to  be  on  the  ground.  Red 
lion  here,  red  lion  there,  red  lion  everywhere !  Why,  sir,  even  on  the 
question  of  refunding  to  General  Jackson  the  fine  which  was  imposed 
on  him  for  setting  at  defiance  the  civil  authorities  of  the  land,  and  im- 
prisoning the  judge  who  dared  to  confront  him  with  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  it  was  thought  ^^that  a  small  red  lion  might  have  a  fine  effect  in 
that  situation.^^  And  a  very  small  one  it  certainly  was.  It  was  sug- 
gested that  the  judge  was  an  Englishman  by  birth.  He  was  known  to 
have  come  over  to  America  in  early  youth.  His  residence  here  could 
be  traced  back  to  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth  year  of  his  age  ;  but  there 
was  reason  to  apprehend,  though  even  that  was  not  altogether  certain, 
that  he  was  born  in  England ;  and,  therefore,  all  those  who  were  un- 
willing to  annul  his  judicial  decree,  and  to  admit  that  he  was  rightfully 
insulted  and  imprisoned,  were  little  better  than  so  many  British  Whigs, 
Was  not  that,  sir,  a  very  little  red  lion  indeed]  This  Oregon  ques- 
tion, however,  presents  a  larger  panel,  and  here,  of  course,  a  flaming 
lion  is  shown  up  in  its  full  dimensions.  The  Texas  question  affords  a 
larger  field  still,  with  far  more  room  for  the  fancy  to  expatiate  in;  and 
although  the  canvass  is  but  just  unrolled,  the  teeming  invention  of 
Ihese  unrivalled  artists,  has  already  done  its  work,  with  something  of 


15 


txeculed 
nansion- 
rerofthe 
;ave  him 
ig-ioom. 
;   utmost 
/e  a  fine 
!,  did  not 
;  painter 
I  of  more 
vhich  he 
striking; 
elicate." 
)m  of  his 
en  for  an 

13  in  this 
lat  of  the 
nor  about 
ssion  and 
/ery  occa- 
s  of  a  cer- 
self-styled 
I  with  the 
mission  to 
Whatever 
lis  House, 
nd.     Red 
en  on  the 
IS  imposed 
^  and  im- 
of  habeas 
ic  effect   in 
was  sug- 
known  to 
here  could 
but  there 
er  certain, 
were  un- 
rightfully 
ish  Whigs. 
jon  ques- 
,  a  flaming 
n  affords  a 
ite  in;  and 
LTention  of 
mething  of 


that  celerity   which   Milton  has  so  glowingly  attributed  to  Creative 
Power: — 


-"  Now  half  appeared 


The  tawny  lion,  pawing  to  get  iree 

His  hinder  parts,  then  springs,  as  broke  from  bonds, 

And  rampant  shakes  his  brinded  mane !" 

Mr.  Chairman,  is  it  possible  that  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Penn- 
sylvania, and  his  political  friends,  can  be  mad  enough  to  believe  that 
the  people  of  this  country  can  be  wrought  upon  by  such  conceits? 
Let  me  assure  them  that  they  do  injustice  to  the  intelligence  of  the 
people.  '"Tis  the  eye  of  childhood  that  fears  a  painted  devil."  The 
manly  sense  of  this  nation  will  scorn  such  appeals  to  fear  and  folly. 
Conscious  of  their  own  integrity,  and  resolved  on  the  vindication  of  their 
own  rights,  the  people  will  neither  be  frightened  froi  -  their  propriety, 
nor  diverted  from  their  purpose,  by  such  devices.  1  hey  proved  this 
in  1840 ;  they  will  make  assurance  doubly  sure  in  1844. 

A  word  or  two  about  Texas,  and  I  have  done.  The  honorable 
gentlenu.  Hom  Pennsylvania,  among  other  most  inconclusive  rea- 
sons for  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  which  has  been  condemned 
as  inexpedient  by  the  committee  over  which  he  presides,  has  told 
us,  that  "  he  holds  it  to  be  incompetent  for  the  mere  treaty-making 
power  to  part  with  any  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
or  to  settle  a  boundaiy  question,  without  the  consent  and  co-ope- 
ration of  the  House  of  Representatives."  And  he  has  appealed  to 
the  Massachusetts  delegation,  and  called  upon  myself  in  particular, 
*'as  one  who  has  loudly  expressed  an  apprehension  of  the  stealthy  an- 
nexation of  Texas  to  this  Union  by  a  clandestine  treaty,"  to  unite  with 
him  on  this  analogous  question  of  Oregon^  and  insist  on  the  right  of 
representative  action  on  the  subject.  Sir,  I  shall  enter  into  no  argu- 
ment as  to  the  extent  of  the  treaty  making  power  of  this  Government, 
in  regard  to  the  particular  measures  which  the  gentleman  has  specified 
in  his  proposition.  Even  if  I  assented  to  the  full  import  of  that  propo- 
sition, which  I  certainly  do  not,  it  would  form  no  ground  for  that  union 
with  him  on  the  pending  quetiion,  to  which  he  invites  me.  Even  if  it 
were  the  admitted  prerogative  of  this  House  to  give  advice  or  prescribe 
action  to  the  Executive  on  the  subjects  he  has  named,  it  would  be  no 
reason  for  our  giving  bad  advice,  or  prescribing  mjudicious  or  unwar- 
rantable action.  But  "the  analogous  questions"  of  Oregon  and  Texas! 
Sir,  I  deny  that  there  is  any  analogy  whatever  between  those  questions. 
The  Texas  question  is  not  in  any  sense  a  question  of  parting  with  ter- 
ritory or  settling  a  boundary  line.  It  is  not  even  a  question  of  annex- 
ing territory.  It  is  a  question  of  amalgamating  a  foreign  sovereignty 
with  our  own  sovereignty;  of  annexing  a  foreign  State  to  our  own 
State.  It  is  such  a  question  as  would  be  presented  by  a  proposition  to 
re-annex  the  United  States  to  Great  Britain,  or  to  amalgamate  Great 
Britain  with  the  United  States.  This,  the  gentleman  must  remember, 
was  the  distinction  taken  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  and  Mr.  Forsyth  in  1837. 
They  maintained,  that  "  the  question  of  the  annexation  of  a  foreign 
independent  State  to  the  United  States  had  never  before  been  present- 
ed to  this  Government."    They  maintained,  that  the  circumstance  of 


16 


■,:*• 


Louisiana  and  Florida  being  colonial  possessions  of  France  and  Spain, 
rendered  the  purchase  of  those  Territories  materially  different  from  the 
proposed  annexation  of  Texas.  "  Whether  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  they  added,  contemplated  the  annexation  of  such  a 
State,  and,  if  so,  in  what  manner  that  object  is  to  be  effected,  are  ques- 
tions, in  the  opinion  of  the  President,  which  it  would  be  inexpedient, 
nnder  present  circumstances,  to  agitate." 

And  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  go  much  farther  than  the  honorable  gen- 
tleman from  Pennsylvania,  on  this  subject.  I  not  only  deny  the  com- 
petency of  the  treaty-making  power  of  this  Government  to  negotiate 
any  such  amalgamation  as  this,  without  the  co-operation  of  the  House 
of  Representatives ;  but  I  deny  that  our  co-operation  can  confer  or 
supply  that  competency.  Certainly,  certainly,  the  Constitution  did 
710^  contemplate  the  annexation  of  such  a  State.  Provoco  adpopulum  / 
The  People,  in  their  own  right,  are  alone  competent  to  pronounce  the 
doom,  which  is  to  bind  up  the  fortut^es  of  this  Republic  in  the  same 
bundle  of  life  or  death  with  those  of  any  foreign  power  ;  and  I  hope 
and  believe  that  they  will  disown  and  renounce  any  Executive  or  any 
Legislative  act,  which  shall  infringe  upon  this — their  own  supreme 
prerogative.  I  trust  that  they  will  not  be  deluded  by  any  false  alarm, 
by  any  red  lion  representation,  that  Texas  is  about  to  be  made  a  colo- 
nial possession  of  Great  Britain.  The  British  Government  have  no  such 
purpose.  Our  own  Government  know  this.  And  if  Texas  be  foisted 
into  this  Union  upon  any  such  pretence,  it  will  be  an  act  as  fraudulent 
in  its  inception,  as  it  will,  under  any  circumstances,  be  pernicious  in  its 
result. 


•Ti 


